CVE-2022-2196

Speculative execution attacks in KVM VMX

Published Jan 9, 2023 CVSS 3.1 · 5.8 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or applying the relevant stable backports (v5.4.233, v5.10.170, v5.15.96, v6.1.14).

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-3404-1 linux-5.10 security update
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2022-34479 A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or past commit 2e7eab81425a
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5970-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5976-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5977-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5978-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5979-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5980-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5982-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5985-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-5987-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-6004-1 Linux kernel (Intel IoTG) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-6020-1 Linux kernel (BlueField) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-6151-1 Linux kernel (Xilinx ZynqMP) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or past commit 2e7eab81425a A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or applying the relevant stable backports (v5.4.233, v5.10.170, v5.15.96, v6.1.14).
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or past commit 2e7eab81425a A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or past commit 2e7eab81425a
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Google
Published
Updated
Aug 7, 2026, 6:43 PM
Reserved
Jun 24, 2022, 1:29 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Jan 9, 2023, 11:15 AM
Modified
Aug 7, 2026, 7:17 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Sep 28, 2022, 12:00 AM